Next to a crowd of anti-fracking activists, the group with the largest presence at the Boulder County commissioners' meeting on controversial new oil and gas regulations Thursday afternoon was a contingent of deputies from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.

Following a major disruption of a hearing on the same topic last week, the commissioners approved a security plan that called for the removal of anyone who derailed Thursday's meeting or harassed people who do not share their viewpoints.

The sheriff's office was tapped to provide security, and Cmdr. Jeff Hendry briefed about 20 law enforcement officers Thursday on security protocols before the meeting began. Potential issues Hendry identified included a report that some activists had planned to take over the whole third floor of the courthouse at 1325 Pearl St.

"Hopefully, there won't be any issues," Hendry said before the meeting. "But it will be up to the commissioners when enough is enough and we'll ask people to leave."

Those fears turned out to be unfounded as the commissioners voted in favor of rules that will allow fracking on unincorporated county lands before a hearing room packed with activists. Commissioner Cindy Domenico praised the audience for being "calm and respectful" after the meeting concluded.

Four uniformed deputies were in the room during the meeting, as well as two people filming the proceedings so that law enforcement would "have an accurate, unedited version of events should there be any," Hendry said. Several others deputies were stationed out of sight nearby.

The room was completely full by 4 p.m. and several dozen people listened in from the lobby. A handout outlining specific county hearing policies was circulated before the commissioners entered the room.

One of the rules noted that the waving of signs, banners or other materials in the hearing room was not allowed. A woman sitting in the third row of the gallery wore a sandwich-board style sign that read "No Friggin' Frackin,'" but she did not wave it around and was not contacted by deputies during the meeting.

A group of 20 or so people in the lobby outside the hearing room wore pieces of blue tape over their mouths with anti-fracking slogans written on them.

East Boulder County resident Rod Brueske wore a strip that read, "It's not OK to poison my kids." He said the tape signified the stifling of county residents' free speech rights because public comment was not accepted at Thursday's meeting.

He scoffed when the commissioners discussed how far they felt active wells should be set back from occupied structures, referencing a University of Colorado at Denver study that indicates living within half a mile of an active well increases a person's chances of being diagnosed with cancer by 66 percent.

"When they are talking about safe setbacks they're pulling myths out of the air," he said.

As the meeting room emptied out after the commissioners' vote, sheriff's deputies were stationed on every floor of the building, as well as at both the front and back entrances, outside on the courthouse lawn and in the rear parking lot. The doors quickly were locked and only county officials or employees were let back inside the building.

A small group of activists stood in front of the building for about half an hour after the meeting's conclusion, but they left before the commissioners or any county staff came outside.